UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has opened the General Assembly’s 71st general debate with a call to end the fighting in Syria.

In his final address to the annual gathering on September 20, Ban accused the Syrian government of killing the most civilians during the country's five-year conflict.

“Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands," he added.

The 135 heads of state and government and dozens of ministers will meet in New York until September 26 against a backdrop of global crises, including the Syrian conflict, attacks around the world by Islamic extremists, and millions of people fleeing fighting and poverty.

Also In New York, the U.S. and Russian top diplomats are leading a meeting of the International Syria Support Group, comprised of countries supporting opposing sides in the conflict.